Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a vehicle driver identification system and, more particularly, to a system and method for identifying a vehicle driver based on driver behaviors, including analyzing a sequence of vehicle start-up behaviors for rapid driver identification, and analyzing a set of longitudinal behaviors for more robust verification of driver identification.
Description of the Related Art
The number of configurable and customizable systems in vehicles has increased dramatically in recent years. From adjustable seats, mirrors and pedals to infotainment and climate control systems, the amount of driver-specific customization of systems in some vehicles is now staggering. These systems—when their configurations and customizations are optimized for the driver—not only provide greater comfort and convenience for the driver, but also contributed to driver attentiveness and performance improvement. This is the result of minimizing adjustments made by the driver while driving, and of the cockpit controls being physically positioned for optimal driver usage.
Because of the large number and types of system configurations possible, it is more important than ever for a vehicle to accurately identify the driver and automatically configure all systems to suit the driver's preferences. Systems are known in the art which identify a driver based on which key fob she or he is using, or even based on a mobile device (e.g., cell phone) which the driver has on her or his person. However, these device-detection type systems require additional hardware in the vehicle to detect and identify the device. Furthermore, using a key fob for driver identification is notoriously inaccurate due to the fact that people in a family commonly share keys and key fobs. There is a need for a fast, reliable driver identification system which can be implemented in software on the vehicle, in order to overcome the limitations of known systems.